Author's note: A new theme is made for Before Light - Remastered, now on Youtube. Feel free to have a listen while reading, cheers! Youtube URL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM4-lv7N4rQ
Art source: Me, https://www.pixiv.net/artworks/103574884
Light infiltrated his sight as horizontal slits seared the dry surface of his eyes.
Vernui's senses returned, stagnantly, but sure, erupting in the unblockable stimulants of torment to which he bore witness through his foggy vision yet recalibrated to the radiant environment of his enclosure, of the large gaping aperture upon his physical form, opening chest down barely reaching his groin.
Dark blood smothered across the white; ash, and particles swaying without lead, above his agape chest and abdomen, in which morbid blotted organs reflect.
Never have Vernui thought to behold his inner contents so vividly, yet the resurfacing of his perception, his mind, his yearnings, all but facilitated the unfathomable truth of his severed flesh and the suffering it ensues. With torsos locked into place, paralyzed only to watch as a silver metallic claw dug deep with brute forth from the upper beyond, ripping a piece of his tarnished body parts out as it ruthlessly headed back to the higher lights.
Light, that dawned mercilessly upon him.
Screaming without sound, covered were his nasals and oral cavities with gears and tubes, only able to squirm awardlessly under the relentless restraints locking him onto solid ground.
Unable to escape from his current dread, Vernui sent his mind across the plane of the subconscious, trying to cling to his one last haven, his memories.
Yuri.
The struggles did subside the moment he yielded before the acceptance, of the retribution he had yet to pay for the sins he had done to her.
The organ, traveling among the grip of iron claws, found its way up to the platforms full of tall pale-armored surgical androids aiding in the excavation process. Collecting samples, cutting edges of the rotten flesh, and scanning the residues within their operators, the androids hustled side to side as the results were revealed at the main screens hovering before one Starbreaker robed in white, cloaked by garbs under the subtle armor acquired not for combat usage but disinfection purposes, prominently shown through the sharp back-slanting helm that sat over the visage of the one staring at the screen jammed with results and readings of his subject.
" Intriguing …" The white researcher Starbreaker remarked as the readings flashed across the visor of his hook-beaked helm, grasping all there were for him to absorb.
Never would he imagine such dramatic speed of the Demons' evolution, from mere beasts of smog to reconstructing sophisticated organisms that serve purposes within a fully compact body of a mimic, heralding a grave threat that is sprouting to the surface of their knowledge.
Who knows what else the Demons are capable of generating in the future…?
" Send these results along with the readings to his Highness immediately." The tall garbed figure ordained his bustling droids around his feet.
" Keep our subject alive. We can't afford to lose such a precious specimen."
The extermination of Demon kind depends on it.
Sending his androids off with a wave of sovereignty, the Analyst Starbreaker stepped out of his lab, striding forth to examine his other patient, subject of surveillance more so, located at the high tower across the sky bridge, planning on the procedures for his next experiments.
Starbreaker researcher Austriuss had seen many unusual happenings in his time in the capital research halls, viewing the evolution of the Demon race firsthand in his expeditions and conquests under the Skylord's allegiance, documenting the species' details and weaknesses for the society of Light to prevail against this overwhelming unyielding threat that had persisted long before the rise of the civilization of Light.
But none of them had made the close effort to swell his excitement such as this he now kept in his tower of scrutiny, where Austrius harbors the most precious of artifacts and specimens across the forlorn lands, and undoubtedly, the one subject that had arrived just the day before proved to be most valuable among all his perception and experience in the field of Demon and Light science.
The Herunis Carna.
Lore of the promised land varies in detail but all point to one specific diction, the Origin of all Light. A gift to all existence that the Skylord had once used a minuscule portion that is enough to give rise to the grand city and elevate them to the advanced level they are now.
It was a place, a blessed realm harboring powers that are considered to be of pure Miraclulous elements, able to bend reality, stretch and recoil time, and forge Fate through its sheer will. And now, sleeping on one of his prized seminal hospital beds is the One genetically linked to the Grand Innovator, the chosen subject to open the gates to Miracles for them to transcend.
Entering gleefully, Austriuss approached the young one lay before him, strapped to the surgical stretcher by the waist and legs, sight obstructed by the sensory monitors and nerve gears helmeted all over her head, trapping the bright blue hair of the patient within iron-tight grips, sucking out knowledge and memory out of her slumber, bit by bit.
Austriuss wondered what the subject was dreaming.
No matter what it is, it shall serve a great purpose to Sky World, to the Skylord,
To the whole of Light.
" Dream on…my child." Austriuss chuckled in a snide sneer, glancing at the fine readings and shimmering Light essence extracted out of the slumbering poor girl in captivity.
Yuri, child of the Maker, shall illuminate the path.
For Light, for the grand transcendence,
It is all worth it.
…
...…
From where All Starbreakers and Emissaries of Light cometh, it all originated from the center of Illumination, hovering high above in the sea of clouds,
SkyWorld.
Towers and stations of splendor perched upon its basis, resembling an elliptical silver platter of golden turrets traveling across the skies, overlooking all underneath its eye at the bottom, the circular engines and spheric rotors merging and swirling to infinity, powered by the Light hidden deep amongst the constructs and foundations that goody bestowed the whole flying city its prominent glow.
Light giveth to all, strength and need,
and asks for nothing but Faith in return.
So were the Runes written upon the main turrets of the Palace nested in the center of the Land of Sky, symbols, and drawings of power circled around the citadel like emblems of gold swaying slowly like flags in motion.
More like Propaganda,
Starbreaker knight Yuno thought to herself as she took a sip of sparkling water from her ceramic tea cup emblazoned also with Runes of power of her governing, dazzling upon her cherished collection and activity of leisure while she was not out on the field slaying Demons in the name of the Skylord.
Though cliche the advertisements hovering upon the castle walls may seem, this city sure does provide her adequately, with login, food, and resource, more so many collectibles, delicate trinkets, and ornaments that she is fond of their fragile nature which handling them itself is a task to her sometimes. But elegance in posture and attitude never is a nuisance to her, adding to the flavor of the enjoyment.
Something that the other two sharing a glass table with her on the balcony would definitely disagree with.
" I am bored. "
The one sitting at Yuno's right grumbled, kicking her legs as she slumped on the table, playing with the empty tall chocolate sundae flask, her tanned fair complexion reflected upon the hexagonal-sided glass.
Though disinterested in spending good morning time at the outdoor lounge, the mundane circumstances dimmed not the curious glow in the teenage girl's childlike wide eyes, examining the tall sundae flask inventively, having nothing else to do.
" We should be cutting down Demons with my new designs. Not sitting here doing nothing and play elegant games. That's lame, sister. "
Yuno sipped from her ornate teacup elegantly, not answering immediately to the teenage girl that called her sister. Often Yuno had questioned how she share the same Light genes with her two...unusual younger sisters.
" You would have known why we are here if you'd cared to listen to me yester eve instead of building that cannon sitting in our living room, Yuka."
Yuno replied amiably, putting her utensils gently down, her thin slanting eyes gazing in a benign yet dismayed fashion.
Yuka, the tanned one with the spiky short unarranged hair and wide deep blue eyes, put the opulent sundae flask down and looked her older sister and team leader seriously in the eye.
" That's a Proliferating Photon Projector."
" I don't care. "
Yuno replied with a genial smile but cold answer.
" Get it out of the dorm before sundown. "
" But its abbreviation is literally PPP—"
" I don't care. "
Yuno's smile hardened and her expression fearful though welcoming at first glance.
" Yuka, be like your younger sister. She knows the gravity of the mission. See how she scouts the perimeter with such precision?"
Yuno nodded proudly as the other high school-aged girl sitting at her left scanned the area and buildings over the balcony silently with her Starbreaker binoculars, huddled and cowed to the side, staring at the bright reflecting glass buildings without response.
" No. Yun is looking at children. Can't you see?" Yuka snapped as the silent girl jolted in a sudden adjustment of her binoculars looking in the other direction, trying hard to act contained
" Yeah. So much for knowing the gravity of the mission." The middle sister Yuka scoffed, laying back on her curved metal bench.
" Besides, we are a strike team, not a spying agency. We fight, not look around behind corners and shadow box in the dark!"
Though not addressing her sister's dismayed remarks, Yuno's teacup shook faintly in her two gripping fingers.
Her thin slanted eyes opened slightly in foreboding.
...Children…?
" Is it true, Yun?"
Yuno, eldest of the sisters asked in a silky whisper gently, to which the timid one at the lookout nodded uneasily at length, unable to lie to her older sister and team leader.
So… they are here also.
This complicates things slightly…
Yuno brooded, closing her thin slanted eyes back with a smile masking her thoughts.
" Well done, Yun."
Stroking the short dark ultramarine hair of her younger sibling affectionately, Yuno praised tenderly her fearful skittish sister.
" I knew you were capable of any mission I give you. "
" No fare! Yun is not focused on the mission and still, she gets praised!"
Yuka the second sister pouted in chagrin.
" And I got nothing for building a Proliferating Photon Projector…"
Heeding not her sister and teammate's qualms, placing her eyes by at the bubbles sparkling from beneath her half-filled cup, Yuno dived deeply into mesmerized thought,
in Reminiscence.
…
...…
Long had Neo sensed their presence being monitored by cold eyes, watching him and his kin of brave children's every move in the shadows, within and out of their current residence. Behind every droid, every glass monoeye he came across, Neo could feel the cold dim reflection upon his defenseless self. Some of his mates call it paranoia, but Neo preferred vigilance, for it is due to the woeful untimely vandalism of Sensei's book that had led Neo to raise his guard once more towards the Starbreakers and their schemes.
" It must be another droid!" Kai cried in reason and anguish before the ripped sliced pages scattered all over the children's dorm, where Kai and Neliya had last studied the tales hidden within its runes, drawings, and secret language before the battle at the North Line.
" Like the one that attempted to snatch it days before! There must be another droid! We must find it and seek the person behind it!!"
Neo agreed wholeheartedly to Kai's assumptions and seeing Neliya weeping her light heart out with extreme grief pained Neo so that he vouched to have the perpetrator pay for his unscrupulous deed.
So as the child leader of the pack, Neo headed straight to Captain Bradson to ask for aid in the search for the rogue villainized android responsible, and the old captain showed Neo and the children the surveillance systems and recorded movements of all the droids on ship, only to face the truth that no android got near the room, nor any intruder android ever to board the ship that fateful night.
" If it is no android…then it can be anyone…!" Neo deducted with his trusted group consisting of Kai his advisor, Tricia the silent observer, Rio his brother, and Oullo, Neo's trusty partner in battles against Demons, a boy of few words and more action, skilled in the obscure ways of ambush and tactics of surprise.
Feira would have joined the meeting but she decided to tend to her sickened younger brother Finnir who was in a crucial state drifting between consciousness and slumber.
"...It can be anyone…?!" Rio hollered in terror.
" It can be you…it can be me…it can be anyone in this room…! Who are we to find the traitor, the destroyer of Sensei's teachings?!"
" Rio, there are no traitors in our ranks. We are family." Neo spoke earnestly and lowered his voice as he ushered for his trusted folk to listen close.
" Sensei had warned us to not trust the Starbreakers and the Emissaries of Light since day one of our assembly. And this Captain Bradson…He might be hiding the truth from us!"
" But Neo, Captain Bradson provided us safe passing and agrees to assist our cause to find our Sensei and the Lost Child!" Kai persuaded.
" The Captain can't possibly pull off such a heinous act!"
Tricia too shook her head at Neo's assumptions and the leader had to believe Bradson's innocence.
" Then Tricia, what should be done? How do we seek vengeance upon the assailant that dare damage Neliya's precious book?!" Neo implored for answers to the child that could not speak, but she sure would lead the way.
By shaking her head.
" You mean…No?!" Neo uttered at Tricia's solemn reaction.
" Not to seek the perpetrator?! But Tricia, that person had to pay!!"
But adamantly Tricia shook her head in silent offense.
Reluctantly, Neo abided with clenched fists.
" If it is so…"
Neo sighed, standing up slowly.
" That the criminal is impossible to seek, then we shall delve into the thought no more."
Relinquishing his anger, Neo bade his trusty helpers to rest and left to seek Neliya alone.
There she was, tears all spent, silently locking herself up in her dorm in punishment for her failed task to protect Sensei's teachings and memories bestowed onto them all. Guilt was the last thing Neo wished Neliya bear alone and wished to console her with his company which the saddened girl had denied any, and as he gingerly entered after gentle knockings upon her door, Neo beheld across the room, pieces of the torn pages of Sensei's volumes lain out before him all over the floor and Neliya, knelt in the middle of the kaleidoscope of parchment, fixed each and every page like mending a shattered rune of greatness with paramount care, piecing together the puzzle of Sensei's knowledge.
Silently, Neo joined her albeit with her refusal, and the two children, tirelessly through the night and a couple of nights before they arrived at the Capital SkyWorld, put together half of the sacred texts.
Just the night before harboring to the City in the skies, Lucky, the redhead with her dazzling crown came to Neo in the dead of the night with someone behind her dressed under a hoodie.
" What is it, Lucky…Neruko?" Neo answered the door to Neliya's dorm while the girl continued piercing the pages back.
" Neo…Neruko knows something that…I think you must know."
Lucky whispered, perturbed and fearing that Neliya might hear her, which Neo found odd at first.
" Alright. Neruko, what is it?" Neo asked as he closed the door behind him quietly.
Neruko, the sleepy one, pale of skin and messy of dark calico hair shadowed under the hood nodded in answer.
" I was sleeping under Neliya's bed all the time, including that day the book was destroyed."
" !!" Neo gapped in astonishment.
" Neruko! You know who did it?!?!"
Neruko's expression darkened as her thin luminant pupils narrowed ominously.
" …I do."
" Then why do you not speak of it?! Up until now??" Neo hissed to keep his fervor from passing through the door into Neliya's ears, or any ears hiding behind the walls of the Betelgeuse corridors.
" Neo, the truth…it is not what you think." Lucky whispered in a slight tremor.
" It must be known only to your ears."
Neo was puzzled by the grim secrecy of their tremulous attitude but still accepted the news with all ears.
So Neruko began to recite her tale gravely in the dark.
" That night, while I was napping as usual under Neliya's bed, I heard her and Kai examining the weird writings at the back of the book. Not soon after, they were called off by Lucky to join the Android driving thingy to fight Demons or so I vaguely remember…but not soon after when I thought I was about to have a good'o nap, someone else barged into Neliya's room."
" Who?!" Neo questioned.
" Kai. He returned early."
Neo froze at Neruko's words, fearing what she had in store.
" No…" Neo forced out a whisper of denial.
" It can't be…Kai is trustworthy!!"
But from Lucky and Neruko's dread glances, Neo knew his understanding of his most trusted sworn brother is challenged.
" I saw it, under my bed." Neruko finished her tale in a minuscule whisper whistly like the autumn night breeze.
" Kai did it, with a knife."
" And I saw it this morning… that knife…was in Kai's pouch…" Lucky whispered, trembling all over.
Neo too was trembling in agony, in sorrow, in anger.
Heeding not the nighttime rules of silent rest, Neo bashed Kai's doors open, lit the room bright with Light, and hurled Kai up to his feet.
The awakened boy wobbled with his yet-woken legs in sheer astonishment. The other boys sharing with Kai at the same dorm jolted up also at the violent travesty.
" Neo?! What be this utter intrusion?!" Treize, the chubby kid and staunch supporter of Kai inquired of the midnight violence that had all the children now wide awake, gathered at the door of the dorm.
Many tried to stop Neo, but the child lead was adamant and blinded by anger.
" Treize, step aside." Neo bade with a snarl, grabbing tightly Kai's pajama collar as he yanked his advisor close.
" Which is your pouch?!" Neo roared demandingly and Kai obeyed, pointing at his rough woven pouch slumped at the side of his bed.
" Oullo!!" Neo shouted out to his trusty battle mate.
" Search the Pouch!!!"
A wave of uneasy whispers swept across the dumbfounded children as the boy of few words took the pouch and rummaged its insides before pausing with an abrupt jolt.
A second later,
Oullo produced a curved jagged dagger out of Kai's pouch,
along with some wrinkled crushed pages of Sensei's book.
Neliya, following Neo and his commotion, gave out a sharp gasp before fainting into Lucky's arms!!
" Wait, Neo—"
" KAAAAIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
If the bystanding children had not stopped Neo, the child leader would have bashed Kai so hard that not even Treize would recognize him.
Captain Bradson, called by Tricia, impeded the conflict before any more violence would have ensued and hurt the masses, but without a doubt, the friendship between Neo and Kai had been shattered that very night.
And that was just yester eve from now that Neo stood at the lounge situated within the luxurious lodging skyscraper that the 'Lord of the Capital', The Skylord generously bestowed onto them for their arduous travels.
The children had a fun time and ample relaxation and enough foodings to assure their past anxieties wandering in the wild, but Neo still was troubled, angered, and eager to know of the reason,
Why would Kai do such a thing to Neliya???
Traitors are everywhere, Neo thought to himself as he noticed the glint of light flashing from atop a building not far at the other side opposite them across the watery clear river lane boulevard down below their resting establishment.
Is Kai heeding someone else's orders?
Who is he working for?
What are his motives?
That was when Neo suddenly realized,
He barely knew anything about his friend.
Kai had been there, alongside him, helping him lead the pack. But how do they meet? What are the days before? Where was he before he met Kai?
What is…his first memory…???
Who…am I…???
"...Neo…?"
Neo spun around, as his mind was cleared of the disconcerting thoughts by that one tender voice calling out to him from behind.
" Neliya…what is it?" Neo sighed in relief to see Neliya. Only when she was around could Neo lay his burdens of leadership down and put his responsible strong image aside. It was Neliya who he felt he could ultimately trust, for she reminded him eminently of Nia, his younger sister lost to the Starbreakers who took her light.
Of course…Nia.
Protecting Nia and Rio was his first memory…
It all started there…
" Neo...Neo are you listening…?" Neliya realized halfway when Neo quickly shook his head back to reality with a content smile.
" Sorry, Neliya. Just thinking of the past. What is it you were saying?"
Neliya puffed her cheeks in dismay for being ignored.
" I was saying," Neliya rephrased once more patiently.
" You should talk to Kai. We should ask Kai what made him do it. He may be threatened by the same power behind the droid that snatched Sensei's book."
Nodding with a heavy sigh, Neo complied.
" And promise me you won't resort to violence." Neliya forcefully admonished, pulling Neo by the hand.
Their faces close, merely inches apart.
" I promise." Neo vowed sincerely.
Anything from Neliya, he swore to always fulfill.
So the two children went forth to meet Kai, hand in hand,
to all ends.
Yet the troubling happenings between him and his friend had clouded Neo's initial judgment, for they, the children all gathered in this luxurious lounge flat, were indeed been under heavy scrutiny hidden in and out of the building. And though Neo may be too occupied to realize, someone else was present on the children's side to protect the pack.
And that is Lima, The child blessed by Sunlight.
She too, with a keen vigilance and sharp perception had deducted the possible positions of hidden eyes that were watching them in the shadows. Whatever the watcher has planned to do to them children Lima hadn't fully grasped yet, but from her experiences, her Memories of the past, Lima was sure the one behind the illusive veil meant only ill omens.
For the watcher behind all these obscure eyes, seeing through each and every droid moving and hovering down and above, is the one and only Skylord of the Capital of Light.
Many things Lima had heard and known of this Skylord, and none of them bade well results.
" Beware the Demons," the Old Sensei that had saved them children had warned before his unreturning leave.
" But also stay as far away from the Starbreakers as possible. For they are all ruled under the ruthless Lord of Sky's supremacy. You must stay together, hand in hand. Never to break apart in these trying times…"
Most of the children heeded their beloved Sensei's teachings without a doubt.
Lima agreed as well to never come across the Lord of Light, for her own reasons. For the past that she had been involved with deeply…that concerns Yuri's existence.
" Lima…you alright?"
Feira's voice pulled Lima back from her disconcerting flashbacks. Staying close and helping the weapons manufacturing girl carry and take care of her repair tools while Feira carried sick Finnir, Lima never expected to be the one being asked if she was well, especially from Feira.
" I am fine." Lima replied shortly, her hand resuming action polishing the weapons Feira carried all this time on her own.
" Just…thinking. How about you? You…okay?"
" Sure." Feira chuckled, squeezing a reassuring smile upon the fatigued face, the dark under her eyes indicating nights of sleep deprived by unease and constant caring for her brother, still trapped in uncertainty.
" It's nothing. I have been taking care of Finnir longer than I could remember. Everything will turn out fine…But enough of me. Something's been ailing you lately after the battle in the North. Something you would like to share?"
Feira asked, placing a new wet towel over Finnir's feverous forehead.
" Yeah." agreed Rio, also sitting nearby, fixing the weapons he had broken per his promise, and also staying company by Finnir his best friend in times of need.
" You were cool silent way back. But now, you are angry silent, like Neo before he fell for Neliya. Who knew…"
" You would never know considering the way you speak to girls." Feira jeered.
" But Lima, I heard you didn't drive an Android but wore a suit and stepped onto the battlefield yourself! It's a miracle you made it back!"
" True, true." Lucky and some curious children nodded also, coming along to join in on the chatting. " You had us freaking out when we saw you and Yuri on top of that wall!" Lucky admonished.
" And we thought we lost you when Seito did that…that bomb thing."
" An Astra!" Rio and his other friends, a pair of twin boys cheered enthusiastically.
" He did it by shouting—Termeter Seito Crashura!! Or something like that and threw lightning out like this!" Rio nearly tossed the weapon he was fixing out to the open had the twin brothers Thok and Thoka not stopped him.
" But Astra aside, we also saw you and Yuri with someone else." another child added curiously.
" Another Starbreaker that we have not met before, who can fly so fast outrunning winged Demons and even Lightning! Who was she?"
That was Momo, Lima thought to herself, wondering how to explain that her body had undergone drastic changes to become a Starbreaker and keep her from perishing.
So Lima tried her best recollecting all that had occurred on her side of the battle, of how she and Yuri met Momo, rode in an air pather across the heavy snow, and attempt to seize Vitas who turned out to be a Dark Unerva in disguise. Retelling such as this, from ear to ear, generations down the line, that form tales, into epics, legends, remembered throughout time.
The same way Sensei once told of his teachings in the ways of stories he would tell them before bedtime. Stories that carry weight, sinking down across the ages to the ears of the future.
That was what their Sensei believed. The power of the Future.
The power to go on.
…
.....
And to go on, to believe, to yearn, for something to remember. And luckily, be remembered.
That was what Bradson Captain had in mind as he was led down the golden emblazoned marble hallway of the main citadel of Skyworld. With his first mate and commander of his forces Firren and secretary Reina following behind, the three of the Betelgeuse crew headed down the extravagant path guided by an elite capital herald droid, tall and slender, sharp and soulless, with four arms, two clasped together and the other pair horizontally placed above the position of the womb, exclusive only in Skyword the close attendants that serve directly the Skylord's needs. And here, now, it brought the three prominent members of the prestigious Betelgeuse airship.
Stopping at the grand foyer before the white-pillared door, the herald android turned around, facing them with its thin beak-like cranium.
" The Lord requests only the Captain to enter." The elite droid spoke in an eerie toneless delivery.
Bradson complied, despite Firren and Reina's silent disapproval, none of them had the power or leverage to go against the Lord's orders now. And the Lord, with his reach all over them far and wide, has in its palm what Bradson Captain concerns the most.
" Wait here." Bradson bade his commander and secretary and entered.
Darkness enveloped his presence as the ceilings and floors all seemed to vanish, replaced by a grand void extending throughout the galaxies. Miles ahead, was Light.
A thin pillar of sheer white beamed down onto the top of a slanting pyramid towering up to a throne at its tip, where the one bathed in luminescence sat. Bradson couldn't make out the actual appearances save the glowing silhouette seated in glory, but the captain was sure the eyes veiled in brightness gazed down upon him as he neared.
Two other shadows not of light but darker shapes of armored beings, Starbreakers, Knights of Light of the paramount order of Skyworld, there stood at the Lord's sides.
General Solo, Bradson recognized from the sinewy broad appearance, was standing to the throne's left, with only his usual armor, not the one he brought out from the Northern snow.
On to the right of the throne, stood gracefully, intimidatingly, a figure of empiric blaze, donning a set of dazzling breathtaking armor with runes wrought upon its surface of the utmost power. The splendid curves of the gold and purplish armor tightly wrapped ornamentally close to the wearer's slender yet stalwart form, with Starrim metal of sheer impressiveness clad upon this Grand Starbreaker; two remarkable antlers stretching a quarter of her full excellent height curling up her helm, where from underneath long straight pale blond hair flowed front and behind the intricately carved chest plates like streams of glowing moonlight; three pairs of blade armors strikingly piercing out her delicate waist where the symmetrical lengthed legging began, clasped close to each other, posing the being's whole physique up to its full splendor.
But aside from the intimidating outlooks that the Exalted Starbreaker seared to Bradson's senses, what truly ensued fear and reverence toward this incredible being was her bursting Starbreaking aura, the advance of a Grand Astra nearly shimmering brighter than the beam of light from high above and even the throne, like ominous superpowers of telekinesis holding high six crooked long lance rifles that hovered around the Exalted one's presence.
No doubt, that the One standing before him was the champion Starbreaker of the Skylord that banished the impossible waves of Dark up to the North years eons ago.
Gulping once, hiding his distress under his stern frown, Bradson Captain went forth toward the obelisk throne, sweeping his long coat back as he made wide traversing steps forward with charisma.
" Ca…Bradson…"
The Lord on the throne was pleased to see the old captain approaching.
" Long have I awaited…for your return."
Leaning forward, his thin smile widening.
…
...….
Rise
Rise, Vernui.
Gasping for air between soundless screams of agony, the hollow voice echoed as a faint smog emerged slowly from within his exposed plucked insides. Spec by spec, ash after ash, coming together into an ominous shade looming by his torture bed, looking down with round beady eyes and its long down-hooked beak.
Archdemon Plague looked down closely over Vernui's pulverized torn organs and with a wave of its wings, the Archdemon conjured with the dark particles, lungs, intestines, liver, and all that the droids had snatched away, new body pitch-black body parts back into Vernui's husk.
Vernui looked up startled, feeling the pain ceasing gradually as the large aperture upon his chest slowly sealed back, leaving a dreadful scar running down from the base of his throat.
" Ho…How…?" Vernui breathed deeply and stressed out.
" How was never the point. It is what you do next that matters." The Archdemon replied illusively, gaining more and more in mass and density of blackness.
Darting his glance side to side, in fear the androids of Light would round up and assault them, but to Vernui's surprise, the surgical androids just stood idly, their mono-eyes shrouded by dust and Nano ash of the Archdemon.
" I told you, how I do it is not of grave import." Archdemon Plague hollered impatiently.
" Boy, I need you. No, WE need you to join us back out there. The Demons North and South, East and West had all answered my call. We await thee, our chosen Prince to lead the way…to the blessed Herunis Carna!"
Vernui nodded in thought, sitting up as the restraints were pulverized from the inside by Nano ash.
" What are you waiting for? Have you not heard what I said?! Get moving!" The demon carrion ushered.
" You are wrong." Vernui spoke in silent realization at the demon lord.
" How you do it is actually what matters. This place, this fortress of Light is supposedly guarded behind cloaks of Light that should repel you in an instant. But you are here. You even fixed my body and insides that were destroyed. But here we are. How do you do it?"
" Why do you so desperately need to know?" Archdemon Plague asked suspiciously.
" So that I can plan my next move." Vernui answered, swift and candidly.
" Your next move is to get out of here to rally the Demons. No matter what."
" Not before I get Yuri out of here. Out of this place." steady and firm was Vernui's answer which made the Archdemon chuckle snidely.
" I will not leave without her."
" Bold move." Plague hummed with a sigh.
" But she is out of your reach. Kept at the high tower under the Skylord's direct scrutiny. It is too risky. Even our chatting now is a risk that may doom the whole picture. Time is of the essence, boy!"
But Vernui adamantly refused to follow.
" I have let Yuri down more than once. Leaving her at the most crucial moments of need, and being reunited with her yet without my senses and Memories, hurting her under your treachery…!"
" That is, the essential step for the Rise of the Demons." Plague reasoned.
" See? Through intercoursing with her, you have parts of her code. You too have the ability to open the gates to the Herunis Carna, all thanks to me!"
" Which makes you and I inseparable." Vernui volleyed back coldly.
" Which also makes you, My servant. Not the other way round."
" Na…Nani…?!" The Archdemon uttered in a forlorn elden tongue to express his distraught.
" Insolent fool, I Made You!! Out of the wrath and despair, out of the Nano Scourge and dwindling Light, I forged you a New Body! I Am Your Master!!!"
" Which doesn't change the fact that you need me to seek what you want. And now that I have regained my Memories, My Mind is my true Master. You can do nothing to me but yield to my call, that is to save Yuri, who you have wrongfully hurt!!!!"
Archdemon Plague snarled and beat its shadowy chest with its winged fist angrily, knowing that this young fellow had a point to which the Demon had no choice but to comply.
" It is suicide to linger any longer, especially this deep into the Light." Plague tried hard to persuade the stubborn young man to follow him away.
" That is why HOW you do it matters, Demon Bird." Vernui inquired seriously.
" How you are able to sneak past the barriers of Light and get into this very room is paramount. I need to know. If so, then…"
Vernui whispered quickly to the Archdemon's carrion-beaked skull.
" Hoh..." Plague hummed wryly.
" Coming to think of it..."
…
...…
Rising up the clear alabaster staircase up to the throne, Bradson Captain fastened his steps.
" I come back only for Yuri's sake." Bradson stated calmly, striding up the slanting stairs up the monolithic pedestal.
" For her to regain health…from the damage that was caused."
" Of course…of course…" The Skylord agreed in a breathy chuckle.
" To return only when your folly has constructed unchangeable failures...Only then would you finally give in..."
" I did what I believed was the right thing to do!" Bradson argued, his steps quickening into stomps.
" From what you have done, and planned to initiate—"
The hovering lance rifles adjusted and aimed all their humming tips at the old captain's chest, under the Exalted Starbreaker's command, but the Lord with a wave assured her that violence won't be needed.
" Your Highness." The Exalted one of the six lance rifles snapped vigilantly.
" It is fine." The King of the Starbreakers sniggered.
" My Words alone are able to bring him down."
Old Bradson puffed, rising to the highest tier, panting as he neared the throne.
" It was you who forced us away. You forced me to take her as far away from you…"
The Skylord's sneer widened as the old Captain marched closer and closer.
The two Elite Starbreakers have stanced their combat poses now.
" Yuri would have been safe under my protection." spake the Lord confidently, calm and benign.
" Under my works and knowledge, you, Reina, the children and all…will Transcend—"
" Your lies work on me No More—Caesar !!!"
Bradson Captain boomed, his growl echoing across the spacious void.
Dumbfounded were the two Starbreaker Knights except for their Lord, who lay back smoothly onto his throne.
There the old man stood, panting, fuming at the monarch's presence. The ruler's cold glance of disdain met the eyes of searing fury.
" You wish for me to recover Her, from the hurt your negligence had caused." Skylord Caesar Skyman mused majestically, resting his chin upon his thin bent knuckles.
" Yet refuse to let me harness and secure Her Power, for the Greater Good?"
" It is not great if it is centered only for your own good." Old Bradson replied adamantly.
" Her Blessings are for this world, this Earth, Our Home! I can't let you take it and squander it in—"
" I've seen your fellow crewmembers waiting outside my throneroom." Caesar Skylord suddenly spoke, cutting the old man's speech nonchalantly.
" I've seen their eyes, the light in their gazes through my omnipresent visions, Captain. And I must say, the spark within them is quite…different from the others. How is it so…Cas?"
The old man froze and didn't reply, couldn't reply before the Lord's inquisitions.
" It seems that…Like you, They remember. They know what happened and what you, and I have done for them. But the question is…How?"
Shuddering, ever so slightly, the old man backend as the Lord of Light leaned forward, rising from his sitting, beaming his Halo-wired mechanic crown upon those that bore witness to his splendor.
" I have my assumptions on how they broke out of the System Memory I myself installed to all…to hide the dreadful reality from them. After all, there is only one thing that could override the System I created. And it lies deep within Her…Inside of Yuri…am I right,
Castiel Bradson?"
Old Castiel Bradson turned away from the blinding halo of the nearing crown.
But the man, this deranged face of the Lord pressed onward with sinister glee.
" You yourself that had preached of the holiness of the Miracles of this Power, that has used it first on those you dear, For Your Own Good! And yet here you deny my usage?!?! Have a good look at your own place, CAS!!!!!"
Lo, with but that one shout, the Skylord and his extreme power of the Light he gathered, pushed the old man far down, off the top tier of the pyramid and down flying to the depth of the void where soft runes of magnificence caught the terrified old captain and broke his fall.
Steadily, Caesar Skylord levitated down without moving his muscles and reappeared before Castiel's presence.
" Don't be afraid, old friend. You know me. I am not ruthless, nor evil by nature." The Skylord reached out his hand to the old man to show his benevolence.
" What you have done, smuggling Grand Asset out of my grasp and accidentally letting Demons taint her…It will all be forgiven. I forgive you, Cas. I will harm no one, not Firren, nor your daughter Reina. Not even you. No. I will punish No one.
" But…but listen well, Cas. Listen to what I am about to say…
I spare you and all those you dear for an Accord, an Agreement that from now on, you will never stop me from whatever I plan to do. Never shall you thwart my works and foil my plans, because if you do, I Will Erase Both Firren and Reina's Memories, Once Again!!!! And I'll make you suffer while letting them Pull The Trigger Onto Your Head!!! Do you Understand?! Do You Not Answer to me, CAESAR SKY LORD?!?!?!?!?!"
" I…I…do…" once taut and stern, firm and incorruptible, now but a helpless old man cowed upon the threats upon his loved ones by the overlord that rules all under Sky.
Again, like the wrong choice he had made years before, Castiel Bradson knew this is the retribution that he had to pay for his folly.
" And one more thing." Caesar Skylord remembered, before turning away back to his throne.
" Those Children you have also smuggled away under your poor disguise as their Sensei…I'll have their Light Hearts pulled out to power the lamp in my study too if you ever dare stop me again…Understood…?"
Seeing the trembling nods of the poor old man was enough to rest Caesar's worries.
With a soft leap, he flew back to his throne, ready to show his failed old friend out when suddenly—
" You…Your Highness…!!!"
A virtual screen popped out before Caesar Skylord's eyes.
The face of the helmed white Starbreaker researcher Austriuss came to view, gripping the edges of the screen frantically as the analyst's surroundings shuddered violently, deep cracks running down the pale marble walls.
Caesar rose his lowered body back up from his throne as his eyes widened with unfathomable glare.
Castiel Bradson too heard of the loud rumbling sounds coming out of the screen and listened carefully at the doorway.
" Alert…Demons…Demons…like Vapor…WE ARE UNDER ATTACK—!!!!!!"
…
...…
[...to be continued]